te -ecas azette, 1829-1831CHARLES A. BACARISSETHE Texas Gazette played an important part in the greatdrama of the westward movement of the Anglo-Americansinto the Mexican province of Texas. Although it was notthe first newspaper to be printed in Texas, it was, as far as isknown today, the first to be printed in Austin's Colony.'The purpose of this study is to tell the story of the founderof the Texas Gazette; to trace the development of the Gazettethrough its first fifty-two numbers, which covered little morethan a year; and, finally, to show the place and service of thenewspaper in Texas history.Little is actually known about Godwin B. Cotten, who, in 1829,began publishing the Texas Gazette at San Felipe de Austin. Theearliest knowledge of Cotten is as an officer serving with theforces of Jos6 Alvarez de Toledo who, in 1813, was engagedin an effort to overthrow the Spanish control of Texas. Duringthis period Cotten would have been twenty-two years of age,"more than enough to have been connected with Toledo's expe-dition."" With the Toledo expedition was a printer named Moorewho printed irregularly a small newspaper called El Mejicano.Cotten may have served his apprenticeship under Moore. From1815 to 1816 Cotten was the publisher of the Louisiana Gazetteat New Orleans," and from 1816 to June 23, 1819, of the Mobile'Duncan W. Robinson states that the Texas Gazette was "not the first Texasnewspaper and not even the first to have been issued in Austin's colony. .." Hegives as his authority for this statement E. C. Barker (ed.), "Notes on Early TexasNewspapers, 1819-1836," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXI, 127. Since thatarticle was written, Professor Barker has discovered that the date on Austin'sletter to J. H. Bell given as July 5, 1824, was a mistake. The date that Austin hadwritten was "July 5, 18-" and someone else had added the "24" to the date. Sinceit was on the basis of this confused date that Professor Barker had supposed thatthere was an earlier newspaper than the Gazette in Austin's colony and since henow feels that the date should be July 5, 183o, as concluded from evidence in theletter, it is reasonable to assume that the paper Austin mentioned was the Gazette.See Duncan W. Robinson, Judge Robert McAlpin Williamson: Texas' Three-LeggedWillie (Austin, 1948), 51.2Ike H. Moore, "The Earliest Printing and First Newspaper in Texas," South-western Historical Quarterly, XXXIX, 98.3Douglas C. McMurtrie, "Pioneer Printing in Texas," ibid., XXXV, 182.